According to the Professional Numismatists Guild’s article, 2020 Rare coin and banknote market remains strong despite Pandemic. This means that coins, especially the rare ones, that you have in stock may demand a higher value.

Coins end up to 3 types of groups:

  1. Collectors who routinely buy coins to upgrade their coin collections,
  2. Investors who hold on to coins and sell when prices go up, or
  3. Bullion coin buyers who buy according to the precious metal content of the coin

Where to Sell your Coins

Coin collectors, investors, and bullion coin buyers usually buy their coins at different places from different sellers as well. And to tap that market, there are several avenues where you can sell your coins.

There are reputable places to sell coins in Northwest Indiana. To get the most profit out of your coins, try the following avenues:

Online

Selling online (in coin groups in various social medial platform or websites) allows you to directly communicate with buyers. It is a good place to start especially if 1) you are fully aware of the value of your coins, and 2) you are not in a rush to sell your coins.

The only caveat here is that, if you are not at all familiar with your coins, buyers may end up offering low than what is the real value of the coin, since they can’t see the actual grade and condition of the coin. Therefore it is important to get better pictures and accurately describe the coin, errors, oddity, and other features

  1. Take pictures of your coin (obverse and reverse)
  2. Take a close-up pic of any oddity, error, or damage
  3. Take close of edge of the coin

Auction/Ebay

Another way to get the fair value is doing an auction. And Ebay is one of the platforms you can use. In here, people will bid for your coins.

Beware though, that they will bid according to the picture and description you post. Similar to selling it online, it is important to take pictures of all sides and note any features, oddity, flaws the coin has. One downside to selling at auction/ebay is the fees that you need to pay.

Exhibits and tours

Exhibits and tours are great places to meet collectors and coin fans. Also in here, you will be able to get fair pricing for your coins. The downside reasons are 1) the tours and exhibits happen a couple of times a year, and 2) the fee that you need to pay

Pawnshops

Another go-to place is Pawnshops. Pawnshops are readily available and are a few minutes away from your location. It is also popular who want to get cash real quick. Pawnshops usually have experts or will hire experts to properly assess the value of your coin.

The only downside to this is that they will offer far less than the value of your coin if you go directly to the collector. This is so because 1) they will carry the risk of handling the inventory and price fluctuations, and 2) they want to get a decent premium from the item.

Coin Shop and Dealers, and Collectors

Another place to go to sell coins to Coin Dealers. Coin Dealers have the expertise to properly assess your coins, not just the precious metal value, but the numismatic value as well.

Gold and Silver Buyers

Some articles and collectors advise people to now sell coins to Gold and Silver buyers. However, being in the business for so long, they may give you fair appraisal and value for your coin, especially for newer bullion.

What’s great is that you can get cash as soon as possible without the risk of depreciating value (instead of holding on to it and wait for the value to increase). While some Gold and Silver buyers will just price your coins based on spot value, others will take into consideration the numismatic value.

How to Sell Your Coins to Get the Most Cash

Now that you have an idea where to sell your coins, it is not important to know how to sell them to get the most out of them.

Selling your coins can be tricky especially if you are clueless about the items or collection you have. Therefore, it is best to do a bit of research. Time-consuming as it may be, it will ensure that you get the most from your lot.

The goal is to determine the sweet spot – not to overvalue common coins, and not to undervalue rare and expensive coins.

Gather documents and separate collections or coins into categories or groups

This is fairly easy even though you are not familiar with coins. In this step, just group together similar coins. Note that a single denomination/face value may command different prices depending on the year, mintmark, and design.

Know what kind of coin you have

To sell your coin for the most money, you have to understand different coins and their corresponding characteristics. Only then can you can get an idea of how much you can get from selling them.

Selling coins without doing this step will end up getting less than the fair value of your coin. Listed below are the valuable coins being collected and sold at a premium

Dollars: 1935 and earlier

Rare Coins Dollars sell coins
  • Bust dollar (1794-1804)
  • Seated Liberty Dollar (1840-1873)
  • Morgan Silver Dollar (1878-1921)
  • Peace Dollar (1921-1935)

Half Dollars: 1970 and earlier

Rare Coins half dollars sell coins
  • Bust Half Dollar (1794 – 1839)
  • Seated Liberty Half Dollar (1839 – 1891)
  • Barber Half Dollar (1892-1915)
  • Walking Liberty (1916-1947)
  • Franklin Half (1948-1963)

Quarters: 1964 and earlier

Rare Coins Quarters sell coins
  • Bust Quarter (1796-1838)
  • Seated Liberty Quarter (1838-1891)
  • Barber Quarter (1892-1916)
  • Standing Liberty (1916-1930)
  • Washington Quarter (1932-1964)

Dimes: 1964 and earlier

Rare Coins Dimes where to sell coins
  • Bust Dime (1796-1837)
  • Seated Liberty dime (1837-1891)
  • Barber Dime (1892-1916)
  • Mercury Dime (1916-1945)
  • Silver Roosevelt Dime (1946-1964)

Nickels: 1938 and earlier also 1942- 1945

Rare Coins where to sell coins
  • Three-cent nickel ( 1865-1889)
  • Shield Nickel (1866-1883)
  • Liberty Nickel (1883-1913)
  • Buffalo Nickel (1913-1938)
  • Jefferson Nickel (1938-1964)
  • Modern Jefferson Nickel (1965-Present)

Cents: 1958 and earlier

Rare Coins cents penny where to sell coins
  • Half cent values (1793-1857)
  • American Large cents(1793-1857)
  • Flying eagle penny values (1856-1858)
  • Indian Penny (1859-1909)
  • Lincoln wheat penny series (1909-1958)
  • 2-cent coin

In Addition to these coins, the following are also sold either for melt or numismatic Value

  • US Silver and Gold American Eagle singles and sets
  • Junk Silver Coins – these are coins known to have 90% of silver and will sell for silver spot price or melt value in the market.

Research the value of the coins

The value that you see online will not be the amount that you will get once you sell your coins. The prices are there as a guide for you to know the range of about much you can sell them.

Depending on where you sell it and the condition of the coins, there might be deductions such as premium fee, dealer fee, online transaction fees etc. Usually, the guide shows the optimistic value of the coins, and the auction prices usually are the approximate value of what you can get for the same coin.

The guides below are just some of the ways to determine the amount you can probably get from coin buyers. Also note that in Indiana, sales of gold, silver, bullion, bars etc are subject to 7% sales tax.

Determine bullion value and spot price of the metal.

Bullion is a gold or silver or precious metal component of the coin. A coin that is widely available among collectors is usually valued depending on the precious metal composition. Before 1965, most coins have a gold or silver component These coins have a melt value that is currently tried to the spot price of metals.

  1. convert actual weight to troy ounce. 31.1035 grams in 1 troy ounce
  2. multiply troy ounce to net weight of pure silver
  3. Multiply troy ounce of pure silver to spot price of silver

Numismatic Value

Numismatic Value refers to the value of the coin regardless of the precious metal component. It depends on the condition and rarity of a coin. Two fairly similar coins, with similar denominations may have the same bullion value, but may differ in price because of its rarity.

The value of a coin is derived based on the following criteria

  1. Denomination – the amount at the face of the coin
  2. Date – the year the coin was struck/minted. Some coin values are higher depending on the number of mintages at that year.
  3. Mintmark – the place where the coin was minted. It is indicated at the reverse side of the coin and is denominated by the letter.
    • No mint mark – Philadelphia
    • D – Denver
    • CC – Carson City
    • N – Nevada
    • S – San Francisco
  4. Overall Quality/Grade – The condition or mint grade of the coin. Ranges from Mint Grade (or uncirculated) exquisite condition, to Good where the details are already blurred out because of circulation and usual wear.

Have professionals grade your coins.

If you want to also get the most value of your coin, it may be worthy to have your coin graded and appraised.

American Numismatics Association has identified professional graders who can grade the coins. Having them graded will help you command a more stable price.

Coins are usually graded by these 2 famous associations. It depends upon you which you will choose.

  1. PCGS
  2. NGC

Important Reminders When Selling Coins

Now that you are ready to sell your rare coins, a few reminders are in order.

  • know the actual cost per ounce of precious metals – by doing a bit of research, you will be able to get the melt value of your coins, especially for those that are more common in the market. You might get more from the melt value than the numismatic value of the coin.
  • understand fees and commissions – there are certain fees when selling coins, especially in auctions, ebay and other services. There are also fees when you will have your coin graded by professionals
  • transact with reputable dealers/Know where the best place to sell your coin collection
  • Never clean your coins – cleaning coins reduces the value

How Wulf can Help you Sell your Coins.

If want to avoid the hassle and just easily convert it to cash right away, we can help.

Wulf can easily convert your coins to cash. We give fair pricing to all your coins so you don’t have to worry about doing extensive research. Save your time and money by selling them to us! Visit us in our showroom or contact us here!

Share this article

Related Posts